Airline passengers around the world, including most of those who will be flying on the Dreamliner dream-machine, will have to wait for ubiquitous Wi-Fi.

— Dennis Schaal

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Here’s one of the most unreported facts about what’s considered to be the most-advanced commercial aircraft on the planet, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner — the vast majority of them don’t have Wi-Fi.

The exception is for Qatar Airways, which conducted a delivery ceremony for the aircraft earlier this week, and has yet to put it into service.

Boeing spokesperson Lori Gunter told Skift that the company certified Qatar Airways for Wi-Fi, and it has been approved by the FAA. This makes Qatar the first airline flying Dreamliners to get Wi-Fi approval.

None of the airlines — All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, LAN, Ethiopian and United — with scheduled Dreamliner service have Wi-Fi approval so their passengers will have to fly unconnected for now.

Asked who will be providing the Wi-Fi service on the Dreamliner, Gunter of Boeing says “our current in-flight entertainment suppliers, Panasonic and Thales, develop and manufacture these systems.”

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